Some Phases of Memory
Memory is the retention of information over a period of time through storage, encoding and retrieval. Memory is complex and can let you down when youre trying to remember something important. Memory can also cause some confusion when two friends remember an event entirely differently. Most people become frustrated when they cant recall a persons name or a place they visited.
Memory isnt installed like data on a computer. The initial stage is known as encoding, in which the information is processed for storage. When you are listening to music, or watching television, you are encoding information into memory. Some of this data stores practically effortlessly, while others require more extensive time to get in there. We use selective attention, which means we focus on a specific situation while ignoring everything else. Its like showing undivided attention to a specific factor.
Although our brains are magnificent, there are some limits. It cant pay attention to everything at once. When researchers measure divided attention, they have participants try to remember a list and were asked to perform an additional task at the same time. Participants who focused on one single event rather than numerous things simultaneously performed a lot better.
Levels of processing is known as encoding information from shallow to deep and deeper processing produce better results than the shallow.
Shallow levels include the sensory or physical characteristics of stimuli that are analyzed. For example, we might detect some shapes of printed characters or detect the pitch of a particular sound.
Intermediate levels include stimulus identified such as an object that drives on the road as a car.
Deepest levels include information that is processed semantically which means in terms of its meaning. This level makes associations we are more likely to remember in the future.
Cognitive psychologists that study the thinking process realize that there is more to memory than just deep processing. In other words, there are a lot of layers of memory. For example, people likely remember where they were and how they first heard news of the World Trade Center event. Imagery is a very important aspect of memory. In fact, some psychologists believe that imagery is so powerful that people will tend to remember images more than words. It has been proven that images can help individuals learn a foreign language. However intricate storage will not determine how well it will get encoded.
Storage refers to the ways that information stays in storage for a long period of time. We remember some information for years, yet we forget some within minutes. Think of the sounds you hear when youre getting out of a car, or birds singing. These are common examples of sensory memory.
Short term memory is usually contained for short periods of time, but there are ways to improve this storage. Chunking refers to grouping the numbers together as in a telephone number. A long blob of numbers is much more easily remembered if grouped similarly. For instance, 7835677876 is easier to remember if chunked into 783- 567 -7876.
Rehearsal is the repetition of something, usually a number. If we keep repeating the number, usually it is retained for a period of time.
These are examples of techniques that can be used to remember content and numbers.
Some phases of memory are explained just as some people learn differently such as by audio or visually, we also remember by different methods. http://www.relocatingetc.com